Backup, disaster recovery, Level of redundancy

[jlunseth]

On 3/12/2020 at 10:03 AM, PMcClure said:

I have been thinking about this a lot lately because of my upgrade. I recall when iPads and charts were just coming out, my CFI chided me for relying on the iPad and insisted I keep paper charts in the plane. I figured that if my primary nav went out and my iPad went out, and coms went out, it was a really bad day. But I carried them anyway, until one day my door popped open in cruise and sucked all my charts from the pax seat out the window. Never bought another set. 

I avoided the G1000 planes because I didn't like the lack of redundancy and also lack of upgrade path. But here I go replacing all that with the new Garmin system. There may be a little less redundancy, but I think there will be fewer failures. 20 year old gyros, crap vacuum pumps that can go out at anytime for any reason worry me more than total electrical or gps failure. Plus the integration brings a lot more situational awareness during stressful days. 

No longer do I need to worry about old gyros and vacuum pumps, but I do need to worry about complete electrical failure. I don't have back up Alternators but I do have dual ship batteries, and back up batteries in the avionics. And if everything goes, I have my iPad and handheld radio. If the electrical and GPS go out at the same time.....well?  If it gets that bad, I will have my legacy compass, ASI and Altimeter installed on the co-pilot side. I was going to install the turn coordinator as well, but it is in need of overhaul. God help me if I am left flying in IMC, at night overwater with only a whiskey compass, ASI and Altimeter and hand held to navigate/communicate. But it would have to be a really bad day for that to happen and I do plan on practicing with it. 

I was reading back through this thread and got a kick out of your post.  I had a chart sucked out the door while taxiing in the Bahamas.  I had an emergency descent from 19K with no oil pressure.  The trip was from MN across Lake Michigan, over Canada and into New York.  It was the paper days.  I had every chart and approach plate for the entire route of flight in the back seat.  But in the back seat, in the dark, with the aircraft needing all my attention, flipping through a big set of charts was the last thing I needed to do.  They were useless, no backup at all.  I carry two iPads now, can find anything I need in an instant.

[Hank]

5 hours ago, jlunseth said:

I was reading back through this thread and got a kick out of your post.  I had a chart sucked out the door while taxiing in the Bahamas.  I had an emergency descent from 19K with no oil pressure.  The trip was from MN across Lake Michigan, over Canada and into New York.  It was the paper days.  I had every chart and approach plate for the entire route of flight in the back seat.  But in the back seat, in the dark, with the aircraft needing all my attention, flipping through a big set of charts was the last thing I needed to do.  They were useless, no backup at all.  I carry two iPads now, can find anything I need in an instant.

I used to keep approach plates stacked below the throttle quadrant, in order of use, and kept sectionals between the seats. Too hard to reach stuff in the back seat, although my handheld [with headset adapter plugged in] lives in my flightbag, strapped to the right rear seat. It's in its own outside pocket, closest to me.

 

[PT20J]

Ever notice how your iPad starts to act weird if you don't power it down once in a while? In my experience, a lot of software doesn't like to run continuously due to memory leaks and other issues. Even Boeing can't get it right.

FAA Issues Order For Boeing To Fix Computer Issue Within 15 Days

FlightGlobal (3/19) reports that the FAA “has issued an airworthiness directive to address a computer issue that could lead to incorrect flight data being displayed in Boeing 787 cockpits,” which applies to 787-8s, 787-9s and 787-10s. The “order responds to a report that the 787’s ‘common core system’ can experience data monitoring problems after the system has been continuously powered for 51 days.” Data “monitoring problems can cause issues with the 787’s ‘common data network,’ which handles all the flight-critical data, including airspeed, altitude, attitude and engine operation, says the FAA’s order.” Consequences “can include display in the cockpit of ‘misleading’ attitude, altitude, airspeed and engine operation data, says the FAA, or the aircraft could lose stall and overspeed warnings.” The order “requires airlines, within 15 days of 20 March, to complete actions detailed in a February service bulletin issued by Boeing to address the issue.”

[jlunseth]

7 hours ago, Hank said:

I used to keep approach plates stacked below the throttle quadrant, in order of use, and kept sectionals between the seats. Too hard to reach stuff in the back seat, although my handheld [with headset adapter plugged in] lives in my flightbag, strapped to the right rear seat. It's in its own outside pocket, closest to me.

 

The heat vent and fuel switch are there.  I had my A&P adjust my heating system for maximum output given where I live, it gets too hot to keep a stack of paper there.  In any event this was a big stack of paper, lots of charts and plates to cover that trip. It used to be around 40 lbs. to fly a quarter of the US. Great if you have a co-pilot who can fiddle with it all, but not great for single pilot crews.

6 hours ago, PT20J said:

Ever notice how your iPad starts to act weird if you don't power it down once in a while? In my experience, a lot of software doesn't like to run continuously due to memory leaks and other issues. Even Boeing can't get it right.

I have had no problems in the cockpit with any of my iPads with Foreflight, and that is now almost a decade.  I have had a One (the original iPad), a 4, and now a Pro with the 4 as my backup.  Years ago I bought what was a very expensive kneeboard/iPad holder.  It is made of aluminum, has a half-cover on top so I can put my hands on it in flight without operating Foreflight.  What I attribute the lack of problems to, was probably not an intentional design feature.  There is an elastic strap, fairly thick, that runs through the holder across the back of the iPad.  It is thick enough that it holds the iPad up off the aluminum back of the iPad holder and away from my thigh.  The iPad never runs hot.  Now, I have not ever left Foreflight running for 51 days either.

PS probably everyone knows this. Any app you open on the iPad continues to stay open in the background.  You close them by clicking the Home button twice, the running apps will show up, then flick them up and off your screen one by one.  That closes them and makes your iPad alot happier than when it was running 20 apps at once.

Edited March 21, 2020 by jlunseth